VAR.P
Quirk foundCategory: Statistical · Last tested 2026-09-01
Real compatibility results for the VAR.P function: executed in Excel for the web, Google Sheets and LibreOffice Calc, with desktop Excel behavior from Microsoft’s official documentation (we do not run desktop Excel — Excel for the web is a different application and is executed separately). Syntax and links to that documentation are below.
Support matrix
| Engine | Documented | Live-tested | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Excel (desktop) | Yes | No — documented only | n/a |
| Excel for the web | — | Yes (recalc, 2026-09-01) | Supported, behaves as documented |
| Google Sheets | Yes | Yes (Drive import, 2026-08-31) | Supported, behaves as documented |
| LibreOffice Calc | Yes | Yes (25.8.7.3, 2026-08-31) | Quirk found |
LibreOffice version history
We executed the same test cases under each LibreOffice release to show exactly when VAR.P’s support changed — not documentation claims, real results.
| LibreOffice version | Verdict | Tested |
|---|---|---|
| 24.2.0.3 | Quirk found | 2026-08-31 |
| 24.8.7.2 | Quirk found | 2026-08-31 |
| 25.2.0.3 | Quirk found | 2026-08-31 |
| 25.8.7.3 | Quirk found | 2026-08-31 |
Why isn't VAR.P working in LibreOffice?
VAR.P exists in LibreOffice 25.8.7.3, but it is not a drop-in match for
Excel — our executed tests found real behavioral differences (detailed in the test results on this
page). If a formula that works in Excel or Google Sheets misbehaves in LibreOffice, compare your usage
against the failing cases above before assuming your data is wrong.
Discovered quirks
-
=ROUND(VAR.P(A1:A3),4) on
LibreOffice Calc returned
8.2222, but the documented/expected
result is 4.
Provenance
Microsoft documents logical values in a reference as ignored by VAR.P. Data 4 and 8, mean 6, squared deviations 4+4 = 8, divided by n = 2 gives 4; MISMATCH vs expected: expected 4, got 8.2222
Executed test cases
Excel for the web (executed 2026-09-01 via OneDrive recalculation)
These values come from Excel for the web, not from desktop Excel. They are two different implementations of the calculation engine, and this run measured only the web one: the corpus was uploaded to OneDrive as .xlsx, recalculated by Excel for the web on open, and downloaded again for readback. Excel for the web is a rolling service with no pinnable version, so the run is identified by its date. Where a value here disagrees with the Expected column — which is Microsoft’s documentation of the desktop product — we cannot tell you whether the web engine diverges from the desktop one or the documentation is wrong about both, because we do not run desktop Excel.
| Formula | Description | Result | Expected | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =ROUND(VAR.P(A1:A10),2) | Microsoft's documented breaking-strength example: population variance of ten tool readings | 678.84 | 678.84ProvenanceMicrosoft publishes this example's result as 678.84, alongside VAR.S over the same data as 754.27. Independently derived: mean 1328.6, sum of squared deviations 6788.4, divided by n = 10 = 678.84 (VAR.S divides by n-1 and so gives 754.2667) |
Matched |
| =ROUND(VAR.P(A1:A4),4) | DIVERGENCE PROBE: the paired case to VARPA -- VAR.P IGNORES text rather than counting it as 0 | 0.6667 | 0.6667ProvenanceMicrosoft's VAR.P page is unambiguous where VARPA's is not: 'Empty cells, logical values, text, or error values in the array or reference are ignored.' Data are 1, 2, 3 with mean 2; squared deviations 1+0+1 = 2, divided by n = 3 gives 0.66667 -> 0.6667. The identical range under VARPA gives 1.25, so the two cases together pin down the coercion rule |
Matched |
| =ROUND(VAR.P(A1:A3),4) | A logical inside a referenced range is ignored, so only the numbers are used | 4 | 4ProvenanceMicrosoft documents logical values in a reference as ignored by VAR.P. Data 4 and 8, mean 6, squared deviations 4+4 = 8, divided by n = 2 gives 4 |
Matched |
| =VAR.P(A1:A1) | One data point has zero population variance | 0 | 0ProvenancePopulation variance divides by n, so a single point gives 0/1 = 0 |
Matched |
| =VAR.P(A1:A2) | A range holding only text leaves VAR.P with no data points | #DIV/0! | #DIV/0!ProvenanceDERIVED, not quoted: the VAR.P page documents no error condition. Text in a reference is documented as ignored, so n = 0 and the population denominator is zero -- #DIV/0! |
Matched |
Google Sheets (executed 2026-08-31 via Drive import)
Google Sheets is a rolling service with no pinnable version, so this run is identified by its date. The corpus was imported to Drive as .xlsx, recalculated by Sheets, and exported back for readback.
| Formula | Description | Result | Expected | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =ROUND(VAR.P(A1:A10),2) | Microsoft's documented breaking-strength example: population variance of ten tool readings | 678.84 | 678.84ProvenanceMicrosoft publishes this example's result as 678.84, alongside VAR.S over the same data as 754.27. Independently derived: mean 1328.6, sum of squared deviations 6788.4, divided by n = 10 = 678.84 (VAR.S divides by n-1 and so gives 754.2667) |
Matched |
| =ROUND(VAR.P(A1:A4),4) | DIVERGENCE PROBE: the paired case to VARPA -- VAR.P IGNORES text rather than counting it as 0 | 0.6667 | 0.6667ProvenanceMicrosoft's VAR.P page is unambiguous where VARPA's is not: 'Empty cells, logical values, text, or error values in the array or reference are ignored.' Data are 1, 2, 3 with mean 2; squared deviations 1+0+1 = 2, divided by n = 3 gives 0.66667 -> 0.6667. The identical range under VARPA gives 1.25, so the two cases together pin down the coercion rule |
Matched |
| =ROUND(VAR.P(A1:A3),4) | A logical inside a referenced range is ignored, so only the numbers are used | 4 | 4ProvenanceMicrosoft documents logical values in a reference as ignored by VAR.P. Data 4 and 8, mean 6, squared deviations 4+4 = 8, divided by n = 2 gives 4 |
Matched |
| =VAR.P(A1:A1) | One data point has zero population variance | 0 | 0ProvenancePopulation variance divides by n, so a single point gives 0/1 = 0 |
Matched |
| =VAR.P(A1:A2) | A range holding only text leaves VAR.P with no data points | #DIV/0! | #DIV/0!ProvenanceDERIVED, not quoted: the VAR.P page documents no error condition. Text in a reference is documented as ignored, so n = 0 and the population denominator is zero -- #DIV/0! |
Matched |
LibreOffice Calc 25.8.7.3 (tested 2026-08-31)
| Formula | Description | Result | Expected | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =ROUND(VAR.P(A1:A10),2) | Microsoft's documented breaking-strength example: population variance of ten tool readings | 678.84 | 678.84ProvenanceMicrosoft publishes this example's result as 678.84, alongside VAR.S over the same data as 754.27. Independently derived: mean 1328.6, sum of squared deviations 6788.4, divided by n = 10 = 678.84 (VAR.S divides by n-1 and so gives 754.2667) |
Matched |
| =ROUND(VAR.P(A1:A4),4) | DIVERGENCE PROBE: the paired case to VARPA -- VAR.P IGNORES text rather than counting it as 0 | 0.6667 | 0.6667ProvenanceMicrosoft's VAR.P page is unambiguous where VARPA's is not: 'Empty cells, logical values, text, or error values in the array or reference are ignored.' Data are 1, 2, 3 with mean 2; squared deviations 1+0+1 = 2, divided by n = 3 gives 0.66667 -> 0.6667. The identical range under VARPA gives 1.25, so the two cases together pin down the coercion rule |
Matched |
| =ROUND(VAR.P(A1:A3),4) | A logical inside a referenced range is ignored, so only the numbers are used | 8.2222 | 4ProvenanceMicrosoft documents logical values in a reference as ignored by VAR.P. Data 4 and 8, mean 6, squared deviations 4+4 = 8, divided by n = 2 gives 4 |
Mismatch |
| =VAR.P(A1:A1) | One data point has zero population variance | 0 | 0ProvenancePopulation variance divides by n, so a single point gives 0/1 = 0 |
Matched |
| =VAR.P(A1:A2) | A range holding only text leaves VAR.P with no data points | #DIV/0! | #DIV/0!ProvenanceDERIVED, not quoted: the VAR.P page documents no error condition. Text in a reference is documented as ignored, so n = 0 and the population denominator is zero -- #DIV/0! |
Matched |
Docs & syntax
- Excel (desktop): official documentation
- Google Sheets: official documentation
- LibreOffice Calc: official documentation
Where VAR.P behaves differently
- MAXA, MINA, AVERAGEA, VARPA vs MAX, MIN, AVERAGE, VAR.P
The A-variants count text as 0 and TRUE as 1; the plain ones ignore them. Executed: LibreOffice implements all four A-variants faithfully, but its VAR.P returns 8.2222 on {4, 8, TRUE} where Microsoft documents 4 and Google Sheets returns 4 - a silent wrong number in all four builds tested.